News & Media

Ambrose avoids violent wrecks for first Cup victory

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Marcos Ambrose passed Brad Keselowski on the first lap of a green-white-checkered finish at Watkins Glen and won Monday's rain-delayed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen under caution when a violent multi-car wreck exploded behind him on the final circuit.

Ambrose, who charged through the bus stop (inner loop) and powered past Keselowski to the inside, became the fifth first-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series this year.

"I'm pleased we did it clean, but I was going to get to Victory Lane. I wasn't going to let that 2 [Keselowski] beat me to the checkered flag."

--MARCOS AMBROSE

Keselowski was second when the yellow flag froze the field. Kyle Busch, who lost the lead on the final restart on Lap 91 of 92, came home third, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano.

"I've fought so much to get here, to finally win and be here in Victory Lane is a dream come true," said Ambrose, who made the most of his vaunted road-racing skills on Monday. "I flew the kids home [Sunday, when the race was postponed] -- it was their first day of school -- and this kind of makes up for it.

"To win in the Cup series is an incredible feeling, and I'm very, very proud."

Ambrose, 34, who moved his family from Australia to pursue a career in NASCAR, was making his 105th Cup start. He has three wins, all at Watkins Glen, in 74 Nationwide starts.

The victory also was Richard Petty Motorsports' first since Kasey Kahne won on the road course of Infineon Raceway in 2009. It was Ford's first win at The Glen since 1996 (Geoffrey Bodine).

Ambrose became the third qualifier for the Sprint Summer Showdown, joining Keselowski and Paul Menard. Those three drivers, plus the winners from upcoming races at Michigan and Bristol, will compete for an aggregate $3 million bonus, should one of the eligible drivers win Sept. 4 at Atlanta.

After restarting fourth on Lap 70, Ambrose dispatched Truex for third place on Lap 73 and outbraked Keselowski into Turn 1 for the second spot on Lap 76. From that point Ambrose trimmed Busch's lead from more than two seconds to two car lengths before Menards's fiery wreck on Lap 86 caused the fourth caution of the race.

"I was trying to pass the 18 [Busch] before the caution came out and really used my stuff up," Ambrose said. "I didn't want to start on the outside [on the final restart], so I actually gave up the start trying to get to the inside, but when I realized that wasn't going to work, I just turned up into Turn 1 and tried to make something happen.

"I spoke to Brad Keselowski last night. We had a chat for about a half-hour, just shooting the breeze and talking about how hard it is to get to Victory Lane -- and there I was racing him for the win. I'm pleased we did it clean, but I was going to get to Victory Lane. I wasn't going to let that 2 [Keselowski] beat me to the checkered flag."

Kurt Busch, who entered the race fourth in the Cup standings, had a rough afternoon. After spinning in the inner loop on Lap 4 and losing a lap, Busch knocked Allmendinger out of the lead and off the race track on Lap 9.

Busch's frustrating day came to an end on Lap 49, when a brake failure sent him hard into the tire barrier in Turn 5.

"I had a big problem getting into the braking zones today -- just rear brakes locking up," Busch said after the crash. "I had to crank eight rounds of front brake into our [car] just to survive. All that does is generate brake heat, and I blew out the left-front tire.

"It was a bummer of a day and not anything that we expected. It must have been something with the brake package. Whatever Keselowski found at Road Atlanta [during his Aug. 3 testing accident], I had a problem with today."

As hard as Busch's wreck was, it paled in comparison to the hit Denny Hamlin took in Turn 1 when his brakes failed on Lap 65. Hamlin rocketed into the wall, destroying the front of his No. 11 Toyota.

"Something blew out in the left front," Hamlin said after being released from the infield care center. "When it did, it must have cut a brake line, so I had no brakes. I was trying to do everything I could to weave or anything I could to get the speed down in the car.

"There was just nothing you could do. The front tires locked up, and you can't steer."

Notes-n-Nuggets

• Marcos Ambrose's victory was his first in his 105th career Cup Series start.

• Marcos Ambrose has finished third or better in all four of his career Cup starts at Watkins Glen.

• Marcos Ambrose became the fifth first-time winner; the last time the Cup Series had five first-time winners was in 2002 (Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Johnny Benson Jr.)

• There have been first-time winners in four of the five green-white-checkered finishes.

• This was Marcos Ambrose's eighth career road course start. He's finished sixth or better in the past seven.

• Richard Petty Motorsports claimed its third victory and first of 2011.

• Brad Keselowski (second) earned his best career road-course finish in four starts.

• Brad Keselowski has moved from 23rd to 14th in the points in the past three races.

• Kyle Busch (third) earned his sixth top-10 finish in his past six starts at The Glen.

• Martin Truex Jr. (fourth) and Joey Logano (fifth) each claimed his best career finish on a road course.

• Kyle Busch is now tied for the Cup Series points lead with Carl Edwards.

FOLLOW US

NASCAR® and its marks are trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. RaceView®, RaceBuddy™,Streak to the Finish™, and Scanner™ are trademarks owned by Turner Sports, Inc. and used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

NASCAR.com is part of Bleacher Report - Turner Sports Network, part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Network.